Foreign Perspectives

Travel insurance is something of an oddity even in the context of the peculiar insurance market.

Up until quite recently, it’s been tied directly the sale of the holiday itself and in many cases people still think of it that way. However, the tying of travel insurance to the holiday by the travel agents has been illegal for a number of years now and you’re free to get your travel insurance where-ever you wish to these days. Almost always, that will mean somewhere other than the travel agent as the insurance on offer from them is rarely good value.

Things to consider when you’re shopping around are:

1. your own health: if you’ve anything that could be considered a “pre-existing condition” then you need to be upfront with that to the insurance company or you could find that if you need treatment whilst on holiday, they won’t cover it;
2. what your house insurance covers: some of your more expensive items might already be covered for worldwide travel (typically this would be the likes of jewellry);
3. where you’re going: if it’s within Europe it’s going to be a lot cheaper than if you include America as healthcare in the US is seriously expensive;
4. the length of time you’re going: many policies limit you to 30 days max, others to 90 and if you’re going longer you may need to look at gap-year policies; and
5. how often you go on holiday: if it’s more than once a year then you should consider annual policies which cover you for multiple holidays over the course of a year.

Once you’ve all that sorted, it’s a matter of looking at one of the comparison sites such as money.co.uk and finding the best deal.

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